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'Top Chef': Who bodysnatched Jen and left this scary, angry whiner?
"Top Chef: All-Stars" had their "Night at the Museum" Wednesday (Dec. 8)
with decidedly less monkeys or Ben Stiller, but the chefs made up for
it with a primate-friendly parfait and an intensely angry contestant.Spoilers! Eat your veggies first.
We're going to cut to the end for a moment and just react: Wow! What in the world happened to Jennifer Carroll? It's one thing to feel passionately about your dish, but whence came this humongous potato chip on her shoulder?
For those who may or may not recall, Jen was on the stellar sixth season of "Top Chef" set in Vegas, was in the Top 4 and just missed making it to the finals after her "crush party" victuals at Napa were deemed un-crushworthy. Instead we got the Double Voltaggio and Red-bearded Santa action in the finals. We were very excited to see Jen back as an All-Star since we felt that she had a better chance to shine with the Voltaggios out of the way.
As soon as she entered the stew room for judging, we could feel the anger waves emanating from her. During judging, she wasn't just defending her food, but insulted the judges' intelligence as well: "You guys are smart enough. You're the judges. Why didn't you say 'Hey, can I get a different plate for this?'"
And no, we weren't just imagining her antagonism. Several people on the show remarked on it. One of the judges said she'd never seen a chef so angry, Team T-Rex leader Tiffani gasped out "Oh wow" after hearing the plate comment, even those in the stew room tentatively asked if Jen was like this for her season, and she proudly proclaimed that this was "All-Star Jen." Ugh, please give us "Vegas Jen" back!
Whoo, and the cussing when she was eliminated for lousy, floppy pork rivaled Gordon Ramsay's vocab. We could feel the other chefs, even buff Tre, trying to avoid eye contact. We don't know what happened to Jen between Vegas and now, but she feels like a woman scorned, that her people have been persecuted, that she must fight the power. Chill, lady.
Now that we've discussed Jen and her attitude, we're kind of exhausted. A few other musings and highlights:
- Did Spike even have a chance for the Quickfire challenge? It was carrot versus chocolate!
- Heh. "The Spice Girls and their bodyguard" vs. "all the cool guys and their babysitter Carla." Hootie!
- We think Team Brontosaurus had it right. 45 minutes to sleep is too much of a tease. We would have explored.
- We don't ever want to be a professional chef if slicing your finger and getting two stitches invites condescension and mockery from all.
- Ya know, Tiffani, we feel for you. We would have picked T-Rex also, but once you've chosen, shut your trap and stop boo-hooing about the lack of veg.
- Oh Katie Lee. Yeah ... we remember you. Bring back Bourdain!
- Ha! We can't help loving Marcel's confession that he deserved more of the the banana parfait win over his dish partners.
Was the elimination deserved? Was Jen's behavior understandable?
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Photo/Video credit: Bravo
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Jen will now go permanently into the Top Chef annals as a whiner, a sore loser and an all-round foul-mouth delusional *****! And rightly so.
Off her meds??? A winner and a sore loser??? Be fair. On Bravo's website Eric Ripert comment on her departure and noted that she works at a Ritz Carlton where "ladies and gentlemen serve ladies and gentlemen." She should have acted like more like a lady and that is too bad.
But in Vegas, Jen was so timid she literally shook with fear. She was confident and that was wonderful to see. Maybe she was too aggressive. So she lost her temper, give a girl break. If one of the male chefs behaved that badly the blogs would be championing him a fighter who stood by his dish. I hope wherever she is after last night's episode, she has her held high and she's not literally shaking from fear.
I was gunning for Jen to shine in the All-Stars, being from Philly myself. And she was great in Vegas. BUT she must have been off her meds or something. What a monster. Sadly that will be the last taste we have of her. She failed in Vegas for being too salty, and now she's failed in the All-Stars for being too bitter. Ouch Jen; we loved you.
As soon as I saw the braised pork belly with that bizarre boiled egg pieces on top, I knew Jen was a goner. You can feel the anger emanate from her body even before the judging. Wow, if you didn't want to come back, why bother? I would have loved to see my boo Betty Fraser back. I miss Betty.
@Kate -- you must not watch this show or read the blogs very often. Male chefs get raked over the coals for this type of behavior all the time.
Jen at the beginning of Vegas was completely kick ***. She rocked it. She wasn't timid or shaking or nervous. However towards the end she simply choked. She could have been kicked out earlier but they held onto her trying to hope that she would turn it around. However in the first episode this season you could see that she hadn't lost that nervousness and hesitancy that she had picked up towards the end of season 7. Its a shame that she is going to be known for this when she could have been known for being a kick *** chef.
"All Stars Jen " like the show was ALL about her.
Wow WTF !
Maybe the fame she has garnered from Top Chef has gone to her head a bit.
I mean defending your dish is one thing being insulting and disrespectful to the Judges and other Chefs is quite another.
I disagree that a male Chef acting like Jen did would of been treated differently.
Typos and spelling. You might want to get someone to review your work before posting.
this is y ive avoided this season like the plaugue when i watched the promos last week i was shocked but then when they started showing tom collichio's response i said yaaaa!! b/c she was very rude and obnoxious. im glad that she's gone and i ddnt like her on vegas season.
I have mixed feeling about it. when someone is that upset before anything is even said, there's something else going on. Like a perpetration. I think she knew she messed up, and she was also annoyed at that girl for leaving for the hospital. I'm not saying the girl shouldn't have gone, but Jen was obviously annoyed and wasn't honest about it. and that pork belly looked terrible from my seat. Yech. I do think other people should have left before her, but she made a bad dish, I guess. That's what happens. Too bad it had to be 2 women right off the bat, though.